Meditation Room Design: How to Create a Five-Senses Experience

What is Meditation? 

Meditation has a long history of use for restoring psychological equilibrium, coping with disease, and overall health and well-being. 

Consider trying meditation if stress is making you anxious, tense, and worried. Even a few minutes of meditation might help you regain your calm and inner serenity. 

There are many different types of meditation, but they all share four main ideas. These include a quiet environment with few distractions, a comfortable posture, a focus of attention, and an open attitude. Meditation can be practised by everyone. It is simple and inexpensive, and no additional equipment is required. 

The Effectiveness of Meditation 

1. Stress Reduction 

One of the most common reasons individuals practise meditation is to relieve stress. Mindfulness-based stress reduction meditation can help you feel more relaxed. This type of meditation approach lowers the levels of cortisol, which is the stress hormone^[1].  

Research shows that meditation reduces symptoms of stress-related diseases. This includes irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia. 

2. Anxiety and Depression Management 

Meditation can help you focus on the present. This will help you stop thinking about anxious thoughts that can make you depressed ^[2]. Studies also found that regular meditation improved positive self-statements, stress reactivity, and coping skills. 

3. Self-Esteem and Self-Awareness Improvement 

Mindfulness training encourages you to calm down. It allows for greater self-reflection and can assist you in discovering positive aspects of yourself. According to Stanford University experts, mindfulness meditation can be especially beneficial to people who suffer from social anxiety ^[3]. 

4. Attention Span Lengthening 

Meditation with focused attention is similar to weight lifting for your attention span. It improves your attention's strength and endurance. One review indicated that guided meditation may even reverse brain processes that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying, and poor focus ^[4]. 

5. Pain Management 

Your sense of pain is linked to your mental state, and it can be heightened under stressful situations. According to some studies, including meditation in your daily practice may be good for pain management.  

A 2020 study of over 6,400 individuals in 60 trials discovered that meditative practice helped reduce pain in patients, who suffer from post-surgical, acute, or chronic pain ^[5]. 

8 Steps to Design Your Own Meditation Space  

Finding your sacred area for meditation and inner development can be difficult. Dreams of the Himalayas or gazing out from your beachfront home with bay windows on the coast may be out of reach for the time being, but we make do with what we have.  

Even if we are going inward with meditation, your outer space might provide inspiration for your inner space. Because meditation may be done anywhere, your new meditation space can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. Here are eight steps for designing your new meditation or yoga room to help you tap into mindfulness.  

1. Choose a Feel-Good Place 

You should choose a room in your house that makes you happy. This is a room that makes you happy the moment you walk into it. Furthermore, you want it to be a calm space in the house, with little to no traffic. 

When selecting a room, consider the lighting as well. A room with a lot of natural light, for example, can quickly improve your attitude. This implies you should find a space that faces the sun at the time of day you intend to meditate. Or, even better, a room with a sunset view—what a lovely way to begin meditation! 

2. Avoid Distractions 

Distractions are the greatest scourge of modern culture. Every day, we are bombarded with a continuous stream of notifications, adverts, and "Likes" until we are all diagnosed with ADHD. That's why our meditation area needs to be isolated.  

By creating a sacred environment, you can tune yourself into a “developmental” state of mind. You know you're going to meditate the moment you enter this room. To create a sensation of isolation, you can use thick curtains, drapes, or folding room dividers to separate an area of your room.

3. Keep it clean and uncluttered 

When it comes to a meditation area, less is frequently more. This environment should feel airy, bright, and clean. 

Furthermore, having clutter around you will almost certainly make you feel more congested in your thoughts. Choose a location where distractions, such as the TV or your computer, are out of sight. This means you shouldn't try to put up a meditation space in your office. Remember that the entire purpose of meditation is to reduce stress in your life. 

4. Be Guided by Soothing Scents 

Another element to consider in your mediation room is aromatherapy. Essential oils derived from plants, such as lavender, chamomile, and peppermint, may truly soothe the soul, mind, and body. 

While meditating, you can reap the advantages of aromatherapy by burning candles and incense or heating oils. Aromatherapy not only helps you relax but also stimulate brain activity. 

There is also evidence that it strengthens the immune system, alleviates muscle pain, and reduces or eliminates stress. These are all excellent reasons to add aromatherapy to your meditation training. 

5. Bring Sounds Into Your Meditation Room 

Although not required, music or guided meditation can be incredibly calming for many people. Although quietly played in the background, meditation music can help drown out all other distractions within the home, allowing you to achieve a tranquil and peaceful state when meditating—similar to the sound of a water fountain. 

Choose any sounds that you find soothing, such as ocean sounds, birds chirping, or wind whistling. Make sure the recordings are long enough to last the duration of your meditation session and consider putting the noises on repeat to eliminate interruption. 

6. Consider Sound Insulating for Zero Disruption 

This is especially useful for those who live in a bustling city, where noise pollutants and sounds like traffic, trains, sirens, or even neighbours are continuously heard through the walls. 

Apart from that, there are other issues that can distract your mediation time:  

• Poor acoustics, with excessive echo making music or an instructor's voice reverberates, making both unpleasant and difficult to listen to. 
• A lack of sound makes it so quiet that you can hear everything—people breathing, hungry bellies, people passing by the room. 

Hence, designing your meditation space with acoustics in mind can make all the difference.  

7. Use Nature-Inspired Decor 

Nature is naturally relaxing and restorative, therefore it stands to reason that you incorporate some natural components into the space where you want to relax and meditate. In reality, most people feel that meditation is all about connecting your mind and body to nature and your environment. While it would be great to meditate outside in a peaceful, natural setting, this is not always practical if you live in a busy city. 

Consider incorporating natural elements into your meditation space—it will be instantly infused with harmony and balance. You can use whichever natural components you like. A plant (think the aroma of jasmine), a vase of cut flowers, jars filled with sand and seashells, or even a tiny water fountain could be used. 

8. Choose a Calm yet Energising Colour 

Aside from the physical aspects and sensory stimuli, you should also consider the room's colour. You want to paint the room to reflect the vibe you wish to create. 

Some people believe that pastels are a lot better option than bright or dark colours since they are more soothing and relaxing. Others may disagree and choose a really dark paint palette, believing that the dark hues would make the space feel womb-like and will envelop them in calm. 

Whatever hue you choose, room colour influences your mood, so choose one that appeals to your meditation requirements while also making you feel calm and comfortable. 

How to Decorate a Meditation Room 

You should absolutely include some of your own personal touches while designing your mediation area. This might be any aspect, fragrance, sound, or object that specifically soothes and relaxes your body and mind. 

Consider bells, chimes, crystals, affirmation stones, beads, and artwork. Any of these are excellent aspects for establishing a tranquil and peaceful environment in which you may concentrate entirely on meditating. 

However, keep in mind that you do not want to overcrowd the space. It is critical to maintaining a clean and clear atmosphere in order to keep your mind open. Choose only a few pieces at a time, and switch them out for new ones every now and then if you can't decide. 

^Sources: 

1. ^{Turakitwanakan, Wanpen, Chantana Mekseepralard, and Panaree Busarakumtragul. 2013. “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Serum Cortisol of Medical Students.” Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand = Chotmaihet Thangphaet 96 Suppl 1 (January): S90-95. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23724462/.} 
   
2. ^{Goyal, Madhav, Sonal Singh, Erica M. S. Sibinga, Neda F. Gould, Anastasia Rowland-Seymour, Ritu Sharma, Zackary Berger, et al. 2014. “Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-Being.” JAMA Internal Medicine 174 (3): 357. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018.} 
   
3. ^{Lindberg, Casey. 2009. “More than Just Relaxing, Meditation Helps Improve Self-Image of Anxiety Sufferers.” Stanford University. June 3, 2009. https://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/june3/meditate-060309.html.} 
   
   
4. ^{Sood, Amit, and David T. Jones. 2013. “On Mind Wandering, Attention, Brain Networks, and Meditation.” EXPLORE 9 (3): 136–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2013.02.005.} 
   
   
5. ^{Garland, Eric L., Carrie E. Brintz, Adam W. Hanley, Eric J. Roseen, Rachel M. Atchley, Susan A. Gaylord, Keturah R. Faurot, Joanne Yaffe, Michelle Fiander, and Francis J. Keefe. 2019. “Mind-Body Therapies for Opioid-Treated Pain.” JAMA Internal Medicine, November. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.4917.}